Transmission jack

ABSTRACT

A jack for use in handling transmissions, the jack having a wheeled base, a lift arm swingably mounted on the base, there being means for raising and lowering the lift arm and a loadreceiving head at the free end of the lift arm. A leveling assembly is carried by the jack and includes a link having one end thereof coupled with the load-receiving head and the other end thereof attached to the base whereby the head may be rotated about a transverse axis, the leveling assembly being operable by gear means carried by the jack and actuatable from either side thereof. The jack is powered by a hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly carried by the base of the jack, the piston having a guide member at the outer end thereof and seated within trackways on each side of the base.

United States Patent Gaarder et al.

[ 1 Mar. 14, 1972 [54] TRANSMISSION JACK [72] Inventors: Gilbert W.Gaarder; Elmont E. Hollingsworth, both of St. Joseph, Mo.

[73] Assignee: Gray Manufacturing Company, Inc., St.

Joseph, Mo.

[22] Filed: May 1, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 820,854

[52] US. CL ..2l4/l D, 254/93 [51] Int. Cl. .3661 5/04 [58]FieldofSearch ..214/1 A, 1 D, 1,775,D1G. 10

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,073,998 3/1937 Raby..214/l D UX 2,706,052 4/1955 Trautman et al.. ..2l4/l D 2,785,8073/1957 Prowinsky ..2l4/l D 3,109,626 11/1963 Arnesetal... ...214/1 D X3,484,004 12/1969 Hughey ..214/1 D X I [06 1!; I w i e/115 2,613,82210/1952 Stanley ..214/l D Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza AssistantExaminer-Frank E. Werner Attorney-Schmidt, Johnson, l-lovey and Williams[57] ABSTRACT A jack for use in handling transmissions, the jack havinga wheeled base, a lift arm swingably mounted on the base, there beingmeans for raising and lowering the lift arm and a loadreceiving head atthe free end of the lift arm. A leveling assembly is carried by the jackand includes a link having one end thereof coupled with theload-receiving head and the other end thereof attached to the basewhereby the head may be rotated about a transverse axis, the levelingassembly being operable by gear means carried by the jack and actuatablefrom either side thereof. The jack is powered by a hydraulic piston andcylinder assembly carried by the base of the jack, the piston having aguide member at the outer end thereof and seated within trackways oneach side of the base.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TRANSMISSION JACK It is the most importantobject of this invention to provide a jack for handling vehicletransmissions such as is normally done in service stations, automotiverepair shops and the like, the jack being relatively simple inconstruction and operation whereby to greatly facilitate the handling ofbulky and heavy vehicle transmissions as they are removed from orinstalled into the vehicles.

In order to accomplish this result there is provided a wheeled basehaving a lift arm pivotally coupled at one end thereof to the base, theother end of the lift arm having a loadreceiving head thereon, therebeing a leveling assembly interconnecting the head and the base of thejack whereby the head may be rotated about a transverse axis and thuspositioned with respect to the vehicle when the transmission is to besupported by the head.

It is a yet further aim of this invention to provide a transmission jackwhich is operated by a hydraulic power unit consisting of a piston andcylinder assembly coupled with a fluid reservoir, the piston having atits outer free end a transversely disposed guide member, which guide hasrollers on each end thereof, the rollers being received in correspondingtrackways on each side of the base whereby to minimize bending loads onthe hydraulic cylinder. The fluid reservoir for the cylinder contains ananticavitation tube which precludes the unit from becoming air lockedeven though the pump which supplies fluid from the reservoir to thecylinder may be operated with the rear end of the jack elevated as iscommonly done. Additionally, the pumping circuit of the hydraulic unithas a builtin release valve which protects the jack from overloading dueto manual effort on the pump handle.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a transmission jackhaving a base and a pair of legs extending therefrom, the legs beinginclined outwardly with respect to the base whereby to present an openarea beneath the head of the jack.

Other objects including significant details of construction will becomeapparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. I is a fragmentary top plan view of the transmission jack, partsbeing broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the transmission jack;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional plan view of the leveling assembly;and

HG. 4 is a fragmentary, partially sectional side elevational view of thetransmission jack.

The transmission jack includes, as its primary components, a wheeledbase 12; a lift arm 14; a load-receiving head 16 at the normallyoutermost free end of the lift arms; a leveling assembly 18 coupled atone end with the base 12 and at the other end with the head 16; andmeans 20 for elevating the lift arm 14.

The base 12 includes a generally rectangular frame 22, which frame ismade up of a pair of opposed side members 24 and 26, a cross member 28at the normally forwardmost end of the frame 22, there being suitableadditional transverse members carried rearwardly of member 28 to providerigidity to the frame 22. At the rear end of the frame 22 a pair oflaterally extending fenders 30 are provided, the fenders each carryingin depending relationship corresponding caster wheels 32 which serve tosupport the rear end of the jack 10.

A pair of legs 34 extend from the normally forward-most end of the frame22 at a point substantially adjacent the cross member 28, the legs 34each being inclined outwardly with Thus, there is provided a wheeledbase 12 which is capable of great portability due to the presence of thecaster wheels 32 and 38 as well as the handles 40 and 42.

The lift arm 14 is pivoted to base extensions 44 which extend upwardlyfrom the frame 22 as by a transversely extending pivot pin 46, said pin46 extending through connecting plates 48 which are carried on each sideof the lift arm 14 adjacent the rear end thereof whereby to permitswinging movement of the lift arm from a lowered position to a raisedposition.

Swinging movement of the lift arm 14 about pivot 46 is accomplished byvirtue of a hydraulic drive unit which is powered by a suitable fluidsuch as oil for instance, said drive means 20 including a hydrauliccylinder and reservoir 50, the cylinder having a forwardly extendingpiston 52, the reservoir surrounding the cylinder and supplying fluidthereto upon manual actuation of a pump 53 by operating lever 54.

Cylinder 50 and piston 52 are within the confines of frame 22 and are inparallel relationship with the side members 24 and 26 of the frame. Saidside members 24 and 26 each define a trackway 56 whereby there ispresented a trackway on each side of the frame 22 in substantiallyparallel relationship to the piston 52. Each of the trackways, as bestseen in FlG. l and 4, has an upper flange 58 and a lower rail 60, thesame cooperating to define a channel 62 therebetween.

The free end of piston 52 carries a connector 64 extending transverselywith respect to the piston 52, the connector 64 being secured to a guide66 which is in turn coupled with trailing links 68. Guide 66 extends inparallel relationship to the connector 64 and spans the distance betweenthe sides 24 and 26 of the frame 22. A roller 70 is carried at each endof the guide 66, the rollers each being received in correspondingtrackways 56 and retained therewithin by means of spacers 72 which arecarried by guide 66 between the trailing links 68 and the proximalrollers 70, all as is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

When the hydraulic cylinder 50 is actuated by lever 54 and pump 53, thepiston 52 is extended, raising am 14, whereby the rollers 70 move alongtheir corresponding trackways 56, rollers 70 being seated withinchannels 62 and retained at the outer end of piston 52 against twistingor bending by virtue of the loads imposed thereupon.

It will be appreciated that when the fluid is released from cylinder 50as by actuating a release valve operation knob 74, the piston 52 isretracted under the urging of the supported load and supplemented by apair of oppositely disposed return springs 76, said springs each havingone end thereof hooked over guide 66 and the other end thereof connectedto a corresponding lug 78 carried by the frame 22.

It is also notable that the fluid reservoir which serves the cylinder 50contains an anticavitation tube which prevents air locking of the fluiddelivery assembly when the pump 53 is actuated as by lever 54 eventhough the rear end of the jack may be in an elevated position as iscommon practice when handling certain types of transmissions.Furthermore, the pumping circuit has a pressure relief valveincorporated therewithin which protects the jack from overloading due tomanual effort on the operating lever 54. Thus, while the jack willsupport an externally applied load on head 16, which load is muchgreater than the jack 10 will lift, the pressure relief valve serves asa safety feature preventing the elevation of a load which is heavierthan the capacity thereof.

It will also be noted that the lifting capacity of the transmission jack10 may be supplemented by additional jacks which may be utilizedtherewith when servicing the vehicle to support either the vehicleitself or components thereof adjacent the transmission of the vehicle,this being permitted by the open front area 36 which is defined by theoutwardly spread legs 34, such open area, for instance, permitting ahand jack to be positioned therewithin and used to support the adjacentend of a vehicle engine while the transmission is removed.

To further assist in handling the transmission either as it is removedfrom the vehicle or replaced therewithin, the jack l0 is provided withpreviously mentioned leveling assembly 18. Assembly 18 is best shown inFIG. 3 of the drawing from which it is apparent that the same includes alink 80, said link being coupled at one end thereof with a mount 82which carries the head 16 and at the other end thereof with a yoke 84which is, in turn, coupled with a shaft 86.

The link 80 includes a pair or relatively shiftable, tubular members 88and 90, the member 88 being coupled with a screw 92 through a collar 94whereby, upon rotation of the screw 92, the member 88 is shiftedtelescopically with respect to the member 90. In order to accomplishrotation of the screw 92 and thus relative shifting movement of themembers 88 and 90, there is provided a miter gear 96 on one end of thescrew 92, which miter gear 96 meshes with a similar gear 98, which gear98 is carried by rotatable shaft 86. The shaft 86 is suitably joumaledwithin the sidewalls 24 and 26 of the frame 22 and is provided withcranks 100 at each end thereof whereby said shaft 86 may be rotated fromeither side of the transmission jack 10. The yoke 84 is likewisejournaled for shifting movement with respect to the frame 22 whereby,upon rotation of the shaft 86 as by one of the cranks 100, the screw 92will be rotated for instance in a right-hand direction thereby drivingcollar 94, which is secured to member 88, thereby causing member 88 tobe shifted with respect to member 90. When this is done, and inasmuch asmember 88 is coupled to mount 82 as by a pivot point 102, the mount willbe rotated about a pivot rod 104 which connects lift arm 14 with themount 82 in such a manner as to tilt the head 16 in a foreand-aftdirection with respect to the jack 10. Such tilting movement isaccomplished by positioning the connection 102 at a point forwardly anddownwardly of the pivot rod 104 whereby, as link 80 is extended andretracted, the attitude of the head 16 and, more particularly, awork-receiving platform 106 thereof will be rotated with respect to thehorizontal.

It will be noted that the head 16 includes, in addition to platform 106,a plurality of outwardly extending arms 108 which are shiftable withrespect to the platform whereby to be positionable with respect to thetransmission when it is placed upon the platform 106, thereby supportingand gripping the transmission and permitting chains 110 to be securelywrapped about the transmission to thereby preclude any subsequentshifting movement thereof on the platform 106. It is also notable thatthere is a centrally disposed bolt 112 which permits rotation of theplatform 106 about a vertical axis. Also, an operating knob 114 isprovided and coupled with suitable structure (not shown) wherebyside-to-side tilting movement of platform 106 may be accomplished.

Thus, through utilization of the jack hereinabove described, the samemay be positioned beneath a vehicle to receive the transmission thereofas it is removed, the platform 106 upon which the transmission is torest being shiftable in several directions as by leveling assembly 18;vertical axis 112; and operating knob 114, all to the end that theplatform 106 may be adjusted to the most advantageous position forhandling the transmission. By the same token, when the transmission isto be replaced, the several various adjusting features may be utilized,in cooperation with the lift arm 14, to place the transmission in theexact desired position to permit replacement thereof.

it will be readily appreciated that the head 16, as shown for purposesof illustration in this disclosure, may be replaced by other types ofload-receiving heads which would function equally well with thetransmission jack l hereinabove described.

It is also notable that, when the lift am 14 moves from a raised to alowered position, there is suitable clearance between the edges of thelift arm and the sides 24 and 26 of the frame 22 so that the fingers orthe hands of the user of the jack will not be caught or pinched betweenthe lift arm and the frame.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by letters patent is:

l. A transmission jack comprising:

a base;

a lift arm swingably mounted on said base;

means for swinging said lift arm between lowered and raised positions;

a load-receiving head carried at one end of said lift arm, the

- other end of the arm being pivotally connected to the base;

means for rotating said head with respect to said arm, said meansincluding a mount for said head, said mount being rotatable about atransverse axis, said mount being connected to said one end of the liftarm by a horizontally disposed pivot pin, said pin defining saidtransverse axis and a link coupling the mount with the base, said linkhaving one end thereof attached to said mount at a position locatednormally forwardly and downwardly with respect to said pivot pin, theother end of the link being coupled with said base; and

operating controls for said last mentioned means located on both sidesof said base.

2. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 1, said head beingrotatable about a vertical axis with respect to said mount.

3. A transmission jack comprising:

a base;

a lift arm swingably mounted on said base;

means for swinging said lift arm between lowered and raised positions;

a load-receiving head carried at one end of said lift arm, the other endof the arm being pivotally connected to the base;

means for rotating said head with respect to said arm, said rotatingmeans including a mount for said head, the mount being rotatable about atransverse axis, said mount being connected to said one end of the liftarm by a horizontally disposed pivot pin, said pin defining saidtransverse axis and a link coupling said mount with said base, the linkincluding a pair of relatively shiftable members whereby said link islongitudinally extensible and retractable;

screw means coupled with one of said members for shifting said memberwith respect to the other member;

gear means coupled with said screw means for rotating the latter andthereby shifting said member, said gear means being carried by saidbase, there being a control crank on atleast one side of said base fordriving said gear means whereby to effect rotation of said head about atransverse axis through said link; and

operating controls for said rotating means located on at least one sideof said base.

4. A transmission jack comprising:

a base;

a lift arm swingably mounted on said base;

means for swinging said lift arm between lowered and raised positions,said means for swinging the lift arm including a hydraulic piston andcylinder assembly coupled with said arm, said assembly being carried bythe base, the base including a frame, said frame having a pair ofopposed trackways in spaced relationship to the piston of said assembly,and a guide carried by the free end of the piston in perpendicularrelationship thereto, said guide having the ends thereof received incorresponding trackways;

a load-receiving head carried at one end of said lift ann, the other endof the arm being pivotally connected to the base;

means for rotating said head with respect to said am; and

operating controls for said last mentioned means located on both sidesof said base.

5. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 4, there being rollers onthe ends of said guide, the rollers being received by correspondingtrackways.

6. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 5, there being returnsprings interconnecting said guide and said base.

7. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 6, said base including apair of legs extending from said frame and inclined outwardly withrespect thereto whereby to define an open front area beneath said head.

1. A transmission jack comprising: a base; a lift arm swingably mountedon said base; means for swinging said lift arm between lowered andraised positions; a load-receiving head carried at one end of said liftarm, the other end of the arm being pivotally connected to the base;means for rotating said head with respect to said arm, said meansincluding a mount for said head, said mount being rotatable about atransverse axis, said mount being connected to said one end of the liftarm by a horizontally disposed pivot pin, said pin defining saidtransverse axis and a link coupling the mount with the base, said linkhaving one end thereof attached to said mount at a position locatednormally forwardly and downwardly with respect to said pivot pin, theother end of the link being coupled with said base; and operatingcontrols for said last mentioned means located on both sides of saidbase.
 2. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 1, said head beingrotatable about a vertical axis with respect to said mount.
 3. Atransmission jack comprising: a base; a lift arm swingably mounted onsaid base; means for swinging said lift arm between lowered and raisedpositions; a load-receiving head carried at one end of said lift arm,the other end of the arm being pivotally connected to the base; meansfor rotating said head with respect to said arm, said rotating meansincluding a mount for said head, the mount being rotatable about atransverse axis, said mount being connected to said one end of the liftarm by a horizontally disposed pivot pin, said pin defining saidtransverse axis and a link coupling said mount with said base, the linkincluding a pair of relatively shiftable members whereby said link islongitudinally extensible and retractable; screw means coupled with oneof said members for shifting said member with respect to the othermember; gear means coupled with said screw means for rotating the latterand thereby shifting said member, said gear means being carried by saidbase, there being a control crank on at least one sIde of said base fordriving said gear means whereby to effect rotation of said head about atransverse axis through said link; and operating controls for saidrotating means located on at least one side of said base.
 4. Atransmission jack comprising: a base; a lift arm swingably mounted onsaid base; means for swinging said lift arm between lowered and raisedpositions, said means for swinging the lift arm including a hydraulicpiston and cylinder assembly coupled with said arm, said assembly beingcarried by the base, the base including a frame, said frame having apair of opposed trackways in spaced relationship to the piston of saidassembly, and a guide carried by the free end of the piston inperpendicular relationship thereto, said guide having the ends thereofreceived in corresponding trackways; a load-receiving head carried atone end of said lift arm, the other end of the arm being pivotallyconnected to the base; means for rotating said head with respect to saidarm; and operating controls for said last mentioned means located onboth sides of said base.
 5. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 4,there being rollers on the ends of said guide, the rollers beingreceived by corresponding trackways.
 6. A transmission jack as set forthin claim 5, there being return springs interconnecting said guide andsaid base.
 7. A transmission jack as set forth in claim 6, said baseincluding a pair of legs extending from said frame and inclinedoutwardly with respect thereto whereby to define an open front areabeneath said head.